Eyam No. 1

Main image for Eyam No. 1

Image copyright © John Ward, 2008

Standing permission

Results: 2 records

B01: design element - architectural - arcade - blind - round arches

all around, in low relief
Scene Description: all around, in low relief
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Blair, 2007
Image Source: photograph supplied by John Blair, of Queen's College, Oxford, 31 July 2007
Copyright Instructions: Photograph and permission received

view of font

Font image
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © John Ward, 2008
Image Source: digital photograph 8 October 2008 by John Ward
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

Font ID: 01550EYA
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 11th - 12th century, Norman
Church / Chapel Name: Parish Church of St. Lawrence [form. knon as St. Helen]
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end of the S aisle
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Lawrence [aka Laurence]
Church Address: Church St, Eyam, Hope Valley S32 5QH, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1433 630930
Site Location: Derbyshire, East Midlands, England, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located just N of the A623, 9-10 km N of Bakewell, 20 km WSW of Sheffield
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Derby
Additional Comments: recycled font: [cf. Bunting's article of 2001 in FontNotes]
Font Notes:
Cox (1875-1877) notes that this font may be the only remaining evidence of the Norman church in Eyam. Listed in Cox & Harvey (1907) as a baptismal font of the Norman period. The basin is roughly cylindrical, slightly wider at the bottom, a rather crude piece; the sides are covered in a blind arcade of round arches in low relief. The base has a round upper side turning into a square shape at the bottom. [An image of the Eyam font, originally from Rev. J.M.J. Fletcher's 'The Plague Stricken Derbyshire Village, or, What to See In and Around Eyam', is made available by Andrew McCann in the GENUKI site for this village www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/Eyam/Fletcher/ChurchFont.htm -- a recent image is available at www.derbyshireuk.net/eyam23.html]. Bunting (2001) writes: "Eyam's Saxon font, hewn of local gritstone, was rescued late last century after serving as a garden ornament" [cf. Index entry for Eyam No. 2 for this font; no other reference to this earlier Saxon font found anywhere else; Bunting does mention also "a later Norman font" at this church -- to be followed up/completed]. Noted in Pevsner (1978): "Font, Norman, circular, with blank arches on columns (cf. Hognaston; found in a garden at Hathersage)" [NB: the note is rather confusing: which one was found in the garden at Hathersage: Hognaston? Eyam?].
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to John Blair, of Queen's College, Oxford, and to John Ward, of Oxfordshire Churches [http://homepage.mac.com/john.ward/oxfordshirechurches], for their photographs of this font

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 588067 5904793
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.285039, -1.678975
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 17′ 6.14″ N, 1° 40′ 44.31″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown
Number of Pieces: two
Font Shape: cylindrical, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

LID INFORMATION

Notes: two notches at opposite sides on the upper rim of the basin may indicate where the old staples were removed from

REFERENCES

  • Armitage, Ella S., A key to English antiquities with special reference to the Sheffield and Rotherham disctrict, London: J.M. Dent & Co., 1905, p. 248
  • Cox, John Charles, 1875-1877
  • Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907, p. 195
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, Derbyshire, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1978, p. 27, 213